• Qualitative Psychology Makes a Comeback
Incoming editor Ruthellen Josselson seeks to bring this form of inquiry back to the important position it deserves
(from Monitor on Psychology, September 2013)

The mission of the journal Qualitative Psychology® is to provide a forum for innovative methodological, theoretical, and empirical work that advances qualitative inquiry in psychology. The Journal will publish articles that underscore the distinctive contributions that qualitative research can make to the advancement of psychological knowledge. Studies published in this Journal will often focus on substantive topics, while also highlighting issues of epistemology, the philosophy of science, methodological criteria, or other matters bearing upon the formulation, execution, and interpretation of qualitative research.

Qualitative Psychology will publish studies that represent a wide variety of methodological approaches including narrative, discourse analysis, life history, phenomenology, ethnography, action research, and case study. The Journal is further concerned with discussions of teaching qualitative research and training of qualitative researchers.

Submission

Qualitative inquiry is relatively unbounded and affords a great deal of opportunity for creativity and originality. Thus, the editorship of the journal is going to specify general rather than rigid criteria for evaluation of submissions and will endeavor to stay open to novel approaches.

Nevertheless, there are some criteria that we'd like to outline in order to ensure that the articles published in Qualitative Psychology® are meritorious and of the highest quality. Articles will be evaluated according to the below criteria:

Theoretical or Methodological Articles

Does the article advance our understanding of qualitative inquiry in terms of conceptualization or approach?

Does the article position itself within approaches to the philosophy of science, interpretation theory, or epistemology?

Does the article lay out postulates or hypotheses that lend themselves to further investigation through qualitative inquiry and/or additional theoretical analysis?

Does the article adequately engage with existing literature?

Articles Reporting Results of Original Research

Is the topic meaningful? Is the presentation persuasive and illuminating? Will readers be enlightened on the topic by this article? Does the work advance psychological understanding?

Is there adequate conceptualization (as opposed to simple description or reporting of themes)? Are there larger psychological questions addressed beyond reporting thematic description of a particular group of people?

Has relevant other literature been joined? Is the relationship between this study and previous studies explicit?

Has the mode of inquiry been explicated in detail so the reader can judge whether it was adequate and appropriate for the issues in question? This includes some discussion of the procedures of the work, and the processes of analysis and interpretation, and of how ethical challenges were met.

Has the researcher taken into reflexive account his or her own role in the inquiry? Are assumptions and biases recognized?

Does this work engage with methodological questions or debates? For some studies, the researcher might explicitly argue for the value of using a methodology that is different from the methods typically used to study this topic. In other cases, the researcher might explain how his or her study's design or findings further develop (or even challenge) some aspect of the qualitative approach it employs.

Are interpretations well-grounded in presentation of data?

Is there evidence that the researcher was tolerant of ambiguity, searched for alternative explanations, and considered negative instances? Is broader relevance considered?

Is the contribution substantial in offering a sophisticated understanding of some aspect of human experience? Is this understanding deeply grounded in some stated perspective?

Is the article well-written, thoughtfully shaped, sufficiently complex and engaging? Does the presentation invite further discussion?

As Qualitative Psychology will be published online as well as in print format, we strongly encourage the use of voice and video files (used with appropriate disguise and permission) to document your study.

When possible, please place symbol legends below the figure instead of to the side.

APA offers authors the option to publish their figures online in color without the costs associated with print publication of color figures.

The same caption will appear on both the online (color) and print (black and white) versions. To ensure that the figure can be understood in both formats, authors should add alternative wording (e.g., "the red (dark gray) bars represent") as needed.

For authors who prefer their figures to be published in color both in print and online, original color figures can be printed in color at the editor's and publisher's discretion provided the author agrees to pay:

$900 for one figure

An additional $600 for the second figure

An additional $450 for each subsequent figure

Permissions

Authors of accepted papers must obtain and provide to the editor on final acceptance all necessary permissions to reproduce in print and electronic form any copyrighted work, including test materials (or portions thereof), photographs, and other graphic images (including those used as stimuli in experiments).

On advice of counsel, APA may decline to publish any image whose copyright status is unknown.

Publication Policies

APA requires authors to reveal any possible conflict of interest in the conduct and reporting of research (e.g., financial interests in a test or procedure, funding by pharmaceutical companies for drug research).

Ethical Principles

It is a violation of APA Ethical Principles to publish "as original data, data that have been previously published" (Standard 8.13).

In addition, APA Ethical Principles specify that "after research results are published, psychologists do not withhold the data on which their conclusions are based from other competent professionals who seek to verify the substantive claims through reanalysis and who intend to use such data only for that purpose, provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and unless legal rights concerning proprietary data preclude their release" (Standard 8.14).

APA expects authors to adhere to these standards. Specifically, APA expects authors to have their data available throughout the editorial review process and for at least 5 years after the date of publication.

Authors are required to state in writing that they have complied with APA ethical standards in the treatment of their participants, human or animal, or to describe the details of treatment. Authors must also state that they have permission to use any interview material, voice or video samples obtained from their participants and have sufficiently disguised material to assure anonymity (unless they have written permission not to do so).

The APA Ethics Office provides the full Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct electronically on its website in HTML, PDF, and Word format. You may also request a copy by emailing or calling the APA Ethics Office (202-336-5930). You may also read "Ethical Principles," December 1992, American Psychologist, Vol. 47, pp. 1597–1611.